P2P

I L T A W H I T E P A P E R | I N F O R M A T I O N G O V E R N A N C E 75 Concluding Remarks – Establishing and Enforcing an IG Program Effective IG programs, although rife with implementation and enforcement challenges, create multiple benefits to an organization, many of which extend beyond what are seen as typical benefits from IG protocols. Enhanced search and retrieval technology assists both administrators and employees, increasing their ability to function efficiently. Enhanced access to organizational information provides benefit to compliance professionals by providing them greater insight into employee's actions. Adding further benefits, beyond those realized by the IG professionals, can help demonstrate return on investment to the organization for the costs associated with adoption of new technologies. Organizations should consider ways they can utilize technologies which already exist in-house. Many entities aren't using the full capabilities of solutions they already rely upon, and such technologies can further assist in the enforcement of the IG program. If additional technology is deployed to assist in the enforcement of an IG program, the expected return on investment provided by that technology should be considered. In prior years, many organizations saw information governance programs as "nice-to-have", rather than as an urgent need. Compliance with data obligations is of greater concern now due to potential fines that exist for both data breaches and violation of data privacy regulations. IG plans are essential to enable compliance with data privacy laws requiring organizations to generate timely reports regarding personally identifiable information within their data landscape, under peril of significant penalties for non-compliance. Effective IG programs can also reduce the cybersecurity risk as result of a data breach. Planning for effective information management across a disparate data landscape is a complex undertaking and the decisions made by the organization will impact every employee in the organization. There are many considerations for those tasked with IG responsibilities. IG plans enacted must be practical, allowing business to continue to operate in a functional manner. Effective communication with all internal business units, as well as partners outside the organization, will help IG professionals achieve their goals. While the cost of implementing an IG program has budgetary impacts, the return on investment should be clearly demonstrable. Once a program is established, and applicable metrics demonstrate the program's effectiveness, the organization will be able to prove the return on investment.. Reducing risk by increasing the visibility into attributes of data possessed by the organization, while creating efficiencies through improved search and retrieval processes, are benefits effective IG continually delivers. Information management is a challenge which presents substantial risks since unauthorized data access can prove costly in numerous ways. Various technologies used by organizations weren't designed to communicate with one another, causing a certain level of chaos for data governance policies to address. The proper combination of people, process and technology helps serve to reduce the risks of managing organizational information by bringing order to the chaos. As famed philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, "One must face chaos to give birth to a star." ILTA Joseph C. Bartolo, J.D. is an Information Governance and Risk Solutions subject matter expert, currently at Knovos, with over 13 years of experience providing consultative litigation support services to AM Law 200 Firms, and Fortune 500 corporations throughout North America and the EU. He has also served as a litigator, with over 7 years of experience as a practicing attorney in New York State.

• Cover